According to Plan
by glassfacet
Summary: Had everything gone according to plans made by certain characters, the Game of Thrones would have been very boring indeed. Thanks goes to George R.R. Martin for creating the playground, Trivial Pursuit for adoring it so much, and my father, who needs to stop giving me addictive books to read.
1. Catelyn

Catelyn Tully Stark

Had the Seven Gods deigned to listen to Cat, the world would have been a very different place. And it would have been so much easier to live in.

If everything had gone according to Cat's plans, Lysa wouldn't have been so impossible to live with. No matter how many times someone reminded her of the Tully motto, Lysa would continue to be an air brain chasing butterflies and believing that she was allowed to. Cat had been happy when she'd learned that she had a sister; Lysa's lack of decorum left her wishing for a different sister.

If things had gone the way that Cat wanted, their stubborn father would have decided to have Petyr be honourable and marry Lysa after he'd deflowered her. And in Cat's book, that would have solved the problem of silly Lysa and Petyr the kicked puppy in one go. Cat and Edmure could put their family first, could perform their duties, could carry their honour as they carried themselves: with heads high and straight backs.

If things had gone according to Cat's plans, she would be married to Brandon Stark. Not that Ned wasn't wonderful, but in many ways he was as cold as the Wall that marked one border of his territory. Brandon had been wild, had had warmth, had been fascinating. Their marriage would have been a passionate one, publicly and privately, and Cat would have revelled in her happiness.

If the gods were following Cat's plan, Lyanna and Rhaegar would never have laid eyes on each other and started the War of the Iron Throne.

If things had gone according to Cat's plan, Robb would not remind her so painfully of his uncle Brandon. Bran would not be so like his father. Sansa would not be a second Lysa. And Arya, the most difficult pregnancy and easiest birth, would not be the reincarnation of Lyanna.

Because then Cat would not oscillate between longing for Brandon and loving Ned. She would not guard Sansa so carefully from men outside of the family, and eventually even her brothers, both by birth and adoption. She would not resent Arya and leave her to be ruined.

If things had gone according to Catelyn's plan, Sansa would have married one of the young lords of Highgarden and lived in the warm gardens of those lands. Bran would not have fallen, and would have completed his knight's training and met a lovely girl at court whose father needed a son and heir for his estates. Robb would have wed one of Walder Frey's daughters, and Cat would have been able to help raise her grandchildren. Arya would be married off to Theon Greyjoy, and would rule both him and the Iron Islands with her steel will and sharp tongue. Rickon would have grown up. Jon Snow would never have existed at all.

House Stark and House Tully would know happiness and prosperity. If everything had gone according to plan. Which, of course, it didn't and now never could.

Catelyn's slashed throat gapes and gushes lifeblood over Walder Frey's floor. Her firstborn lies in a puddle of his own blood mere feet away. Her younger sons are reported dead, Sansa is imprisoned in King's Landing, and wherever Arya is, no one can find her. Lysa has run mad in her Eyrie. Edmure is upstairs, bedding his pretty new wife. Ned is dead. Lyanna is dead. Brandon is dead. Hoster Tully is dead. Cat is close to joining them.

As she falls to the floor, she thinks she sees her younger daughter's anguished face wreathed in flames. But that, Cat thinks, is impossible. Arya, like Lyanna, like direwolves themselves, has become a myth. Pure mist, the existence of which is questionable.


	2. Ned

Eddard Stark

If things had gone according to Ned's plans, Robert Baratheon would never have set eyes on his sister. Perhaps that was an exaggeration. But Ned thinks that if Robert had never seen Lyanna and decided to claim the she-wolf they would all have been spared quite a bit of grief. Robert was a good friend, a great warrior, and overly fond of wine, women and song. Ned had never quite understood why his father had agreed to the match.

If everything had gone according to plan, Ned would have stood next to his brother Brandon at his wedding to Catelyn Tully. Not that he regretted marrying her himself, but he could tell that Cat and Brandon had taken a shine to each other and that they would be unbearably good for one another. Ned had always thought that he would marry one of the Mormont girls or a Frey and that would be that.

But the Old Gods were not kind gods, and to Ned's dismay and the misfortune of the Seven Kingdoms, Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen had met at a tournament.

There were many songs written about the Baratheon-Targaryen war. Ned's contribution was never put to music, never sung or seen by anyone but himself and Jon before the boy was old enough to remember it. Ned had titled it "The She-wolf and the Dragon".

No, if Ned had his way, Rhaegar and Lyanna would have married regardless of Elia Martell. Robert would never have had the chance to consider Ned's sister as a bride. The Iron Throne would still be occupied by the House of Dragons.

Had everything gone according to plan, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon would all be Catelyn and Brandon's children. They would be raised alongside Ned's own sons and daughters in a great pack. They would have a blend of the Stark look and their mother's features, whomever she would have been.

Lyanna would be alive and a Queen Consort. Jon would be a Prince raised by his parents instead of a bastard brought up by his uncle and quietly seething aunt, who thought him a threat to her own children. Ned and Oberyn Martell wouldn't still be grieving for sisters who were the casualties of a half-mad man's self-absorbed melancholy and a power-hungry man's bloodlust.

Ned and his siblings would have seen their children grow up, fall in and out of love, do something important with their lives. They would have written to each other of the ridiculousness of children and governance. Brandon and Cat would have kept a firm hand on the North. Rhaegar, Elia and Lyanna would have kept all of the Seven Kingdoms in check, and little Rhaenys, Aegon and Jon would have played with Viserys and Danaerys in the Red Keep. The Kingdoms would be at peace.

There would be happiness for House Stark, House Tully, House Targaryen and House Martell. But when winter comes, it blows bitter cold.

Ned walks to his execution, knowing that is Joffrey Lannister's idea of mercy. So many things gone wrong. Arya is hiding, he knows not where. Robb is marching on the South with an army. Catelyn is with her sister, presumably safe enough for now. And Sansa, pretty Sansa, the daughter he could not know because she was beyond his ability to comprehend, stands beside Joffrey with a smile on her face. Ned knows that this display of trial and execution is her work, whether she knows it yet or not.

Brandon is dead. Lyanna is dead. Elia is dead, as are her children. Rhaegar is dead. Robert is dead. There is no one left to see through his plan for happiness.

He thinks he sees his younger daughter's face in the watching crowd as the great sword comes down. He thinks a little prayer for Arya, his sister over again, and Jon, who will never know that he was born a Prince.


	3. Robb

Robb Stark

If things had gone the way Robb had wished, the world would be a good place for him. Winterfell would have been a haven of joy and harmony. His mother would never wear the sour look she sometimes got. HIs father would pay more attention. He would be able to forget that he had sisters at all.

If things had gone according to plan, Robb would have been the only boy to begin practice when he did, and therefore he would have needed to be sent away in order to build friendships with other young lords. He wouldn't have to compete with Jon or Theon for acknowledgement from his father because they simply wouldn't be there.

And Arya wouldn't be running through the yards, claiming all the attention for herself. She would sit and sew with Sansa, and he wouldn't have to be jealous of the way everyone loved her and showed her things that she didn't actually need to know because she was a lady. He wouldn't have to see Theon's appraising looks or Jon's easy way of talking to her. If everything had gone according to plan, Arya would be all but invisible until she was old enough to marry.

If things had gone according to plan, King Robert would have asked someone else to be his Hand, and left their family alone. And Robb would have learned how to lead men on bandit hunts and through everyday administration of justice. Not through a war that cost the North and the Starks so dearly.

If things had gone according to plan, Robb would have married one of the Frey girls. It was part of their deal with Walder Frey, but it was also something that likely would have happened anyway, war or no war. Instead he was married to Jeyne, who was sweet and lovely, but could not guarantee his army safety and supplies.

If things had gone according to plan, he would have won the war and retrieved his sisters. They would have gone back to Winterfell and grieved their father and his shattered dreams, and their broken little brother whose fall was inevitable. And then carried on with the original plan of going about their lives.

Had things gone according to Robb's plans, he would not be standing in the middle of his uncle's wedding feast with an arrow in his chest and a slit throat, listening to his mother shriek and Grey Wind howl and snarl outside. But he is, and this is the price he has to pay for breaking an oath made to a petty old man.

As the dark fogs his eyes, he wishes he could see his wife, his sisters, his children. But he cannot see. Perhaps he never could.


	4. Viserys

Viserys Targaryen

If the universe had listened to Viserys, he would have been born first, not Rhaegar. He would have been a great king, and he certainly wouldnd have held onto the Iron Throne and Westoros. Everyone would still know the might of the dragon.

Had things gone according to plan, he would have grown up on Dragonstone. Viserys would have known the sea and the land. He would have been able to do as he pleased because he was a prince and had wealth. No one would dare to oppose him or make him wait at all. For anything that he wanted.

If everything had gone according to plan, Viserys would have been able to love Danaerys. She wouldnStormbornt even have an epithet yet, and he was three years older. He should have the attention, not her.

If things had gone the way Viserys wanted, they would not have had to rely on charity to get by. They would be protected by their loyal supporters in Westoros, given all of the privileges of royal children. Viserys wouldn questions. He would be able to look out the window and see his birthright stretched out before him. His sister would have other people to ask questions.

If things had gone according to plan, Viserys and Danaerys would have married each other to preserve the line, not for an army. Beautiful violet eyed, silver haired children would run through the halls of the Red Keep or Dragonstone, wherever he saw fit to keep his sister and Queen. HIs children would be raised to rule, and rule well. His Hand would be utterly obedient, his Master of Coin frugal, and the maids warm, soft and willing to please him.

If the Seven Gods had taken Viserys into account, they would have granted him dragons. He would travel the country by dragon, enforcing his law and his will on the lords of the Seven Kingdoms through awe and fear of his dragons. The legend of House Targaryen would carry on through Viserys.

Standing in a hodgepodge city in a desert, Viserys drinks and resents the world. He is the second born son of a madman, and he resents his brother for it. He cannot love Danaerys, who takes the attention of everyone they meet. He may never be a king in anything other than name. His sister, who should have been his bride, is married to a savage who refuses to keep his promise and take them home. There are no more dragons, save the ones frozen in their eggs that Danaerys has.

And suddenly, he knows what to do. He will take back from his sister, the whore, what should have been his. The dragons should be his. The place of honour should be his. Her womb is his, and all the contents of it. Fuck what the Dothraki dogs think of her. Danaerys is his bitch, his broodmare, his whore to do with what he will. And if this transaction will not pay what it should, then Viserys will find a customer that will pay for her.

Danaerys looks on him with calm, clear eyes as he approaches her. Her violet eyes remain calm as he is hauled away from her, screaming. She does not look away as he is forced to his knees, as her husband prepares to crown him. Viserys knows what will happen.

Danaerys becomes a goddess, with her indifferent eyes that do not respond to his pleas for mercy. Molten gold burns his hair, his scalp, his eyes, his lungs. And he knows that the Dragon Goddess does not look away.


	5. Sansa

Sansa Stark Lannister

If everything had gone according to plan, Sansa would have had a sister that she could call sweet and mean it. They would read each other poems and act out their favourite stories and dream about going to tournaments together. They would exchange beautiful pieces of embroidery at holidays, and sometimes for no reason at all. Sansa would have a best friend who she could trust completely.

If the Seven Gods had taken Sansa's wishes into account, she wouldn't have to put up with the disgrace of having a bastard brother. Sure, Jon was nice, and well liked by many people. But he didn't have to live with them and constantly remind Sansa that her father had been unfaithful to her mother. It ruined her picture of a perfect family.

If things had gone according to plan, Joffrey would have been a gallant, wonderful Prince. They would have walked together, and he would have brought her flowers and written her poems. He would have been attentive and protective of her. She would have been ecstatic on their wedding day, and they would have had a happy ending worthy of the songs.

And if things had gone according to plan, Sansa and Cersei would have had a close relationship, like a real mother and daughter. Cersei would have given Sansa advice and guidance, and they would have spent many pleasant afternoons talking about the things a woman needed to know to be a good Queen. Cersei and Robert's marriage would be loving and a perfect example to model Sansa's own marriage on.

Had things gone the way Sansa wanted, she would never have noticed the Hound, really. He'd be there as a guard to protect her, but he would be just one of many. She and Joffrey would be so engrossed in each other that they simply wouldn't care who was on guard duty. The Hound, Ser Loras, or even Ser Jaime, it wouldn't have mattered.

If things had gone according to plan, her father would have given her away at her wedding. Arya would have been standing beside her, and Ned would have carefully walked her down the aisle. Catelyn would have smiled at her from beside the altar, and everyone in King's Landing would have been in awe of how beautiful Sansa was, how like a Princess. And the Seven Kingdoms would rejoice, because they had a handsome Prince and a beautiful Princess, just like the songs said they should And Sansa would have what Arya and Lyanna never could: a crown and a throne. Sansa would be the most important one, and everyone would stop talking about the she-wolves. One day, Sansa would rule the Seven Kingdoms as the power behind the throne, and everyone would be happy.

Sansa watches the snow fall around the Eyrie. Her parents are dead, as are most of her siblings. Her childhood home is a ruin, as is the snow copy she made of it outside. Joffrey, who should have been her Prince, had been a monster. Her husband, who should have been a monster, was kind to her. Cersei was no wise Queen. As much as it pains Sansa, Arya had been right. And Sansa had never said she was sorry.

Her wedding had been a nightmare. It seemed to her that weddings were, indeed, becoming nightmares for everyone. Joffrey had died at his own wedding. Robb and Catelyn had died at Uncle Edmure's wedding. Renly had died shortly after his own wedding. The beautiful image Sansa had crafted since early childhood looks more and more impossible to her.

The Eyrie was impregnable, Sansa recalls her aunt boasting. Lysa, who is also now dead, leaving her home in the care of an ambitious man. And Sansa herself is complicit in the murder and framing the lecherous singer. Not that she minds being rid of Marillion, or not having to marry her idiot cousin. But now she cannot leave. Sansa is, at heart, a wolf. She cannot fly from the Eyrie the way a falcon could. Sansa has moved from one prison to another. Petyr has proven kind to her thus far, but he has also shown himself to be ruthless. She finds him impossible to read, and so she does not know how to act. Sansa cannot protect herself against her new jailor, and that frightens her. The blood on her hands is beginning to add up: her father, her aunt, the singer. Sansa does not know how much more she will hold herself responsible for.

For the first time, possibly ever, Sansa wants her sister. She wants Arya to help her be strong, and to be a line of defence between Sansa and Petyr. But Arya is gone, and Sansa knows it's her own fault.


	6. Cersei

Cersei Lannister

Had everything gone according to plan, Cersei would have been born a boy, just the same as Jamie. They would have been treated the same, instead of as complementary halves of a whole. Their closeness would be allowed, seen as brotherly affection expected of twins. The complicated feelings between them would never have developed.

Cersei cannot really regret loving Jamie completely. If she'd had her way, no one would have found out and they would have been a secret, permitted to stay together and never really knowing that what they had was wrong.

If everything had gone according to Cersei's plan, they would have outlived their parents and ruled Casterly Rock together. They would have married and cited the Targaryens as their example to the world rather than to each other as reassurance and justification.

Failing that, Joanna would not have died birthing Tyrion. Granted, that had been Cersei's fault in part. If things had gone according to Cersei's plans, Joanna would have died early in her pregnancy with Tyrion as punishment for separating her from Jamie. And Tywin would have had more room in his heart for Cersei and Jamie, rather than letting what little space he had be consumed by resentment of Tyrion.

If things had gone according to Cersei's plans, her Tyrion would not have been born so stunted. Of course, the original plan had been for him to not exist at all, but he had been born, and Cersei had hoped for another easily manipulated brother who could support her and Jaime and protect them from the outside world's condemnation.

Had everything gone according to plan, Robert Baratheon would never have even been a contender for her hand. Cersei would never have had to suffer the indignity of being married to the boor and watching him bed everything around her with tits. Even his bastards got more of his attention than she and her children did. Cersei would be happier without him.

If the Seven Gods had smiled on Cersei, Ned Stark wouldn't have put all of the pieces together. Even now, she didn't know how he'd figured out her true relationship with Jamie. Of all the men in the Seven Kingdoms to see through her deceptions, it had to be the one she could not bribe, could not persuade to be blind to the truth.

Perhaps a man like Ned was what she needed in a husband. Someone who would insist on a partnership, on honesty, and never let her get away with anything. Perhaps that was the problem with her.

But Cersei's plans sat in tatters. She had married Robert to get away from Tywin, and now that Robert was dead she was back under her father's thumb. Tyrion had grown up contentious, never forgetting the difference between his status and his stature. Jamie was missing on the battlefield. Ned Stark was dead. So many dead.

She kneels on the floor of the great feasting hall in the Red Keep, cradling Joffrey's head in her lap as his pulse flickers and dies under her fingers. She knows she is screaming, but cannot hear her own words. Her eyes meet Tyrion's desperately, and suddenly she can hear herself accusing her brother of killing her son. But Cersei knows that it is her own guilt that she is trying to hide, guilt for not killing Joffrey herself when it began to become apparent what he was. Her Tyrion disappears, her father disappears, her daughter-in-law disappears, even her son's body disappears.

Cersei is not dead yet. She still has two children. She can still plan. There is still a chance that she can win this game. There is also still a chance that she can lose it.


	7. Lysa

Lysa Tully Arryn

Had the Gods favoured Lysa instead of her older sister, they would have let her be born first. She would have been their father's jewel, his standard for behaviour. It would have been Catelyn who was scolded for being too dull, too lifeless rather than Lysa being scolded for being too lively. Lysa would have been the prize to be had, not Cat.

If things had gone according to Lysa's plans, Petyr would have seen her first. He would have loved her first and best. They would have made plans to run away together and gotten married, and she could have supported his rise to greatness as his wife. Together, they would have made Hoster Tully see what a fine son-in-law he had.

If things had gone according to plan, Lysa would have had Petyr's baby. It would have been scandalous, at least to Cat, but Lysa would have had physical proof of Petyr's love for everyone to see. And then they would have to have married, and Lysa would be the happiest woman in Westoros. It didn't matter that his holdings were poor. She loved him, and that was all she'd ever wanted.

If things had gone according to plan, Catelyn would never have come south to King's Landing to see Petyr. And Petyr wouldn't have been reminded of how beautiful Cat was, how seemingly wonderful she was. And Petyr wouldn't have helped her, wouldn't have hidden her and smuggled her husband to her. And Lysa wouldn't have had to seethe with jealousy as Petyr did favours for Cat and not her.

If things had gone the way Lysa wanted, Catelyn would never have brought the Stark-Lannister feud to her home. In fairness, Lysa had started this episode. But truthfully, she hadn't expected Petyr to send Cat to her, of all people. To Riverrun, for sure, but not to the Eyrie, to the only place that had every been hers.

If things had gone according to Lysa's plans Petyr wouldn't have brought Sansa with him from King's Landing. Sansa was Catelyn all over again, pretty and dutiful, and out to spite Lysa with her youth and beauty. Playing so shy, so sweet, Lysa could see through it even if no one else could. Sansa should have stayed in the Red Keep with her shrivelled little husband.

It snows outside the Eyrie now, and Lysa watches her new husband, her Petyr, with Sansa. And she knows that the ghost of Catelyn is still there, the third person in her marriage. No one will take Lysa's happiness from her anymore. She is done with that.

Her niece opens the Moon Door at Lysa's bidding, looks down when she's told to. Lysa rails at her, at this preserved image of Cat at thirteen, who has the gall to lie to her face. Should Sansa go, there will be no more ghost, no more haunted, sleepless nights for Lysa. And Petyr will be all hers.

And then it is Lysa falling, not Sansa, falling through the snow. All her life, happiness has been stolen from her. By Catelyn, but now Catelyn is dead. By Hoster, but now Hoster is dead. By Jon, but Jon is dead too, didn't she see to that herself? And now Sansa, Sansa has stolen Lysa's Petyr and her heart is broken into millions of pieces. She sees now what everyone else saw. The height of her love's ambition, the tools to get what he wanted. Lysa was just one of those tools. Her baby is in her love's hands. Catelyn has won her war. Lysa can see Cat's face in the ice on the side of the mountain. As she blinks snow out of her eyes, she recognizes it as her own.


End file.
